Israel fails to bar Dublin mayor’s entry amid name spelling snafu

Dublin Lord Mayor Micheal Mac Donncha was meant to be barred from entering Israel because authorities spelled his name wrong on the order barring his entry, officials said.

He was also supposed to be barred because of his support for boycotts against the country, instead, he got in.

Israeli Interior Ministry Aryeh Deri on Wednesday called the incident a “mishap,’’ a day after he announced the mayor’s ban.

On Tuesday, Israeli media reported that Mac Donncha was forbidden from entering the country, due to his ties to the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which promotes boycotts of Israel internationally.

However, shortly after the announcement, the mayor confirmed on Twitter that he had arrived at the Tel Aviv airport and travelled to the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank for a conference.

Mac Donncha’s name was misspelled as ‘Mícheal MacDonncha’ with no space between ‘Mac’ and ‘Donncha’ on government press releases this week, though it’s not clear if this is the same misspelling that allowed him to gain entry.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement argued that Israel carried out human rights abuses against Palestinians.

Israel accuses the group of Antisemitism for singling out the Jewish State.